Promote Electronic Gift Cards
- Remind customers it's never too late to send an electronic gift card prominently on the home page, horizontal navigation, email campaigns, product page cross-sells etc
- In 2007, Musician's Friend provided a cash-back incentive for purchasing an e-gift certificate with a “$20 ComeBack Cash in the New Year” offer. Buy a gift certificate of $100 or more and receive a $20 gift card to use before February 15, 2008.
Switch Gears to Clearance
Last year we saw post-Christmas sales begin before Santa had a chance to round up his reindeer. Customers may be anticipating retailers to do the same this year, so consider the timing of your post-holiday markdowns and the deadlines for your banner/home page design creative.
Show Off What's New
Some retailers opt to forget the holidays and focus on new (regular priced) arrivals:
Ring In the New Year
If you sell relevant products, why not switch gears to the New Year? (Think party supplies, outfits and New Year resolutions.)
Belated Gift Notifications
CompUSA and Omaha Steaks have offered to send e-gift announcements to gift recipients to let them know they were not forgotten, their gift is on the way but will arrive after Christmas.
Keep Your Shipping Cutoff Dates Up
Finally, don't remove your shipping cutoff dates even after the deadline has passed. Your customers are not psychic and will want to find this information before deciding to continue shopping with you. Make it easy. You may lose the gifting sale but you may keep the customer on your site or drive them in-store.